Hi Steve,
 
I just wanted to say a great big "Thank You" for all the research you've done and for the wonderful letters you have submitted for our encouragement.  Your theories are fascinating and ring very true in my heart - more than any other proposals I've read concerning a date for our departure. I am so looking forward to more information from you.
 
That being said, I would like to point out a few things regarding the Rapture that have intrigued me for years.  To the best of my knowledge, these issues have never been addressed.
 
God often assigns dual meanings to different words and phrases in the Bible.  We know that all of us live eternally - either with the Lord or in Hell.  So, the fact that Jesus is called our "Savior" means that he is saving our souls from eternal punishment.  That's the spiritual side.  But, since we are still living in a physical world, could Jesus also be saving us from some catastrophe here on earth?  I have always referred to God as the "Minute Man" because I've noticed (at least in my life) that he always answers prayers at the very last minute. Just when I think all hope is gone, God comes to the rescue.  I kept thinking that it would be just like God to send our "Savior" to "save" us from some horrific event here on Earth just in the nick of time.
 
In keeping with that idea, I took my Bible Concordance and looked up some of the words in the famous Rapture passage of 1 Thessalonians 4:16.  As you read this passage below, please pay particular attention to the two words translated as "remain" and "together" because another translation of these two words lends an entirely different meaning to the passage:
 
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
 
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
 
The word "remain" (perileipo in Greek) can also be translated "survive".
The word "together" (hama in Greek) can also be translated "at the same time".
 
Substituting those 2 words for the existing words would make the passage read as follows:
 
"Then we which are alive and survive shall be caught up at the same time (or simultaneously) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
 
Survive WHAT????  With this translation, the passage would imply that some type of worldwide disaster coincides with the Rapture.  Some of us are killed in the disaster and others are taken out at the very same instant.  Either way, we are all gone simultaneously.
 
There is another passage in the Old Testament which seems to corroborate this theory.
 
Look at Isaiah 57:1.
 
From the King James:
 
"The righteous perisheth (the ones killed in the disaster?), and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away (raptured?), none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come."
 
Now, how could no one notice that we are gone, unless......
 
This scripture seems to imply that something so chaotic happens here on Earth that those left behind don't even know the rapture has taken place.  It's in secret, remember?  If millions of people are killed worldwide and those left behind are busy dealing with the consequences, they wouldn't even realize that only the righteous Christians are gone.  They would assume that those people unaccounted for (raptured) were just buried in the rubble or their bodies couldn't be located.  Total chaos would be the rule of the day and everyone would be scrambling trying to restore order to a world full of devastation.  By the time things returned to semi-normal, none would have considered that the righteous people are the ones who are either dead or missing.  The amazing God we serve is certainly capable of pulling this off.
 
It's kind of a scary thought, but I guess it really won't matter whether we are killed instantaneously or raptured.  Either way, we are out of our bodies and present with the Lord in the twinkling of an eye.  Guess we really won't know what happened until we're in heaven.
 
Any thoughts, anyone?
 
God Bless You.
 
Cinda